W. Edwin Dodson, MD
W. Edwin Dodson, MD, HS ’75, is associate vice chancellor and associate dean for admissions and financial aid and for continuing medical education. A pediatric neurologist, he is internationally recognized as an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood epilepsy.
Dodson, also a professor of neurology and pediatrics, earned his bachelor’s degree and medical degree from Duke University in 1963 and 1967, respectively, where he was selected for Alpha Omega Alpha. Following his internship and residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston, plus a two-year stintat the National Institutes of Health, he moved to St. Louis for a residency and fellowship in child neurology at Barnes Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. He joined the Washington University faculty in 1971 as an instructor and became a professor in 1986.
He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, written more than 50 textbook chapters, and is co-editor of five books. He has served as consultant, board member, or chair of more than 40 not-for-profit institutions, including the Child Neurology Society, the American Epilepsy Society, and the Epilepsy Foundation of America, for which he served as chairman of the board and president. He founded and was the first president of the St. Louis Family Support Network and served as chairman of the Children’s Trust Fund of Missouri.
In 1990, he became associate dean for admissions and financial aid. Seven years later, he was named associate vice chancellor and associate dean for admissions and continuing medical education. Due in large part to his dedication, leadership, and administrative skill in these roles, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Washington University School of Medicine No. 1 in student selectivity — a measure of student academic quality — for 12 years running.
Dodson has been honored with numerous awards, including the Clemens Award of the Epilepsy Foundation of St. Louis, the Guardian Angel Award of the Family Support Network of St. Louis, the American Epilepsy Society’s J. Kiffen Penry Award for Excellence in Epilepsy Care, and Washington University’s Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award. He has been named in Best Doctors in America and Who’s Who numerous times.
The Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association is pleased to present its Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Dodson.